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REVIEW: Kings of Heaven by Richard Nell

Kings of Heaven by Richard Nell is the third and final book in the Ash and Sand trilogy. The Ash and Sand books chronicle the adventures of a barbarian prophet named Ruka, a sorcerer prince named Kale, and a peasant-born priestess named Dala. The people of the Ashlands are prone to famine, disease, and civil strife but Ruka has promised them a new land. Like Moses, Ruka claims the gods have given them a new home and that he will lead them there. The big difference is that Ruka is making his connection to the gods up.

Ruka’s attempts to build an alliance with King Farahi has failed miserably. Due to uncontrollable and unforeseeable events, Kale led an attack on his father’s own allies and managed to devastate both his own army as well as that of Ruka’s before getting himself taken out of the race for king. Worse, this was done right before the Naran Empire prepared for a massive invasion that will drown the islands’ defenses in sheer numbers.

The story has a lot of strength from the fact that Ruka has lost his most valuable ally and suffered tremendous losses. The only way he can prepare for the coming attack is by making alliances using diplomacy, something that Ruka is horrible at. It doesn’t help that the sister of King Farahi, Kikay, fully intends to betray Ruka for the doom that he has brought to their forces. It is an interesting political situation that requires cool, pragmatic, and ruthless heads to prevail in.

Part of what makes this series so good is that it errs on the side of cynicism as well as pragmatism in its decision making. The characters are very often murderers, liars, oath-breakers, cheats, and worse. However, the book presents them as more than this. The dream of paradise and a better life for the children of Ash is something that Ruka believes can redeem him of even the worst sin. There are many other characters who compromise or outright discard their moralities out of the desire to do better by their loved ones.

One of my favorite characters in the book is Osco. A proud warrior of a people conquered by the Empire of Naran years ago, he has long desired to overthrow the Emperor and destroy its people (based on the Han Chinese). However, Osco finds himself outcast and betrayed by his people when the Empire of Naran offers to restore him as well as provide for his wife as well as daughter. It is a bargain that cuts to the core of his being but you understand fully why he would choose to make it.

If Kings of Heaven has one major weakness, it is the fact that it spends a good half of its length dealing with the final battle when the character interaction, as well as complicated politics, is far more interesting. The book does provide a satisfying and conclusive ending to the storyline, though. Romances never come to be, peace comes at a price, and there is a good portion of the cast dead but the results are realistic to the events.

Kings of Heaven is a perfect end to a grimdark tale.

Read Kings of Heaven By Richard Nell

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REVIEW: Kings of Ash by Richard Nell

Kings of Ash by Richard Nell is the second book in the Ash and Sand trilogy that follows the adventures of a deformed barbarian named Ruka, an island prince named Kale, and a young priestess named Dala. The people of the Ashlands have lived in starvation and poverty for a thousand years but the discovery of the Pyu Islands have offered them a chance at lives of plenty. They just have to conquer the territories first.

Ruka has found himself in the islands and is stunned by their strange ways as well as the abundant wealth around him. A genius, despite his humble origins, he quickly finds himself absorbing the vast knowledge of the more cultured South Asian-influenced culture. He also develops a friendship with the mysterious King Fahari that possesses supernatural insight into the future. Ruka remains a captive, though, and believes that the only way to save his people is to lead them to conquer the islanders that he’s come to admire.

This ties into Kale’s own story as he finds himself, many years later, trying to rebuild his people. The son of Farahi, his people have been conquered and he is seeking allies to take back his island from those who have taken it over. Kale has developed powerful but uncontrollable magical abilities that may give him the edge in defeating the invaders. However, a few chance dream encounters with Ruka give the impression there’s much more going on than it initially appears.

The world-building and politics of these books are incredible with the complex interactions between nations reaching A Song of Ice and Fire levels. Richard Nell also manages to achieve the near-impossible of keeping the books well-balanced in their grimdark cynicism. Farahi is a kind, generous, and wonderful ruler but must be ruthless as well as decisive to achieve the political ends he does. Ruka is a murderous barbarian but has learned both the value of patience as well as politics during his captivity.

The role of Dala is sadly reduced in Kings of Ash as we spend most of our time in the islands rather than the Ashlands. However, she does play a significant role once Ruka returns to the Ashlands in order to gather his army. As Dala herself observes, Ruka is capable of rousing an army through charisma but incapable of inspiring legitimacy to his crusade without the support of the priestesses. Given they banished him as well as killed his mother, Ruka is less than pleased at this conclusion.

I am particularly fond of a newly introduced character named Kikay, the sister of Farahi, who is a ruthless and blood-thirsty woman who invokes Cersei Lannister but more competent. But for an accident of birth, she’d be the ruler of the Pyu islands and wishes to both expel the barbarians as well as rule through force of arms. Surprisingly, she is completely loyal to her brother but cannot stand his perceived weakness.

Do I recommend this book? Oh hell yes. It’s probably the best independent fantasy novel I’ve read for the past ten years. This is a trilogy that deserves to be published by one of the Big Five and to win awards. You won’t regret buying Kings of Ash if you love grimdark, antiheroes, politics, world-building, and shocking twists.

Read Kings of Ash by Richard Nell

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REVIEW: Light of Impossible Stars by Gareth L. Powell

Having gleefully consumed the adventures of the Trouble Dog and her crew through Embers of War and Fleet of Knives I was very much looking forward to tackling Light of Impossible Stars to wrap up the trilogy.

However, the story starts with a brand new character. Cordelia Pa is an orphan scavenger on City Plate Two – the Plates being another curious megastructure built by an ancient alien race – scrabbling for a living amongst the alien ruins. That is until the trading ship, Gigolo’s Aunt arrives and the crew say her dad has sent them to collect her.

Meanwhile, the Trouble Dog and it’s small flotilla of refugee ships and the Trouble Dog’s own penitent sibling Adalwolf are fleeing from the Marble Armada’s onslaught and the increasing threat of hypervoid dragons. They hope that they can seek refuge or find a way to fight back in the area known as the Intrusion.

Throughout Light of Impossible Stars, as with the rest of the Embers of War series, we see our characters torn between duty, survival, personal whim and what is probably the right thing to do and different characters respond very differently. In a universe which is coming apart and there are no good choices, this feels like the essence of grimdark to me.

Just as was the case in Fleet of Knives, Light of Impossible Stars mixes things up with a brand new point of view character in Cordelia and she is both one of the most interesting characters in the whole trilogy and the most important to the plot.

Cordelia transitions from a destitute orphan to captain of a starship and plays a significant part in the conclusion of the book, which is an arc more significant than any experienced by any other participant in the series.

Some of our returning protagonists however seem almost passive. Sal Konstanz comes across well but almost wholly reactive to events. Now, that’s a realistic place to be when you’ve lost crewmates and your civilization is collapsing and you’re probably going to die but I feel like she’s lacking as a key protagonist. Of course, that might be the point – that you don’t always get a neat resolution or to steer your path much.

Along the way, we lose a few more of our crew and just as before, they go quickly and without much fanfare. The lack of a big death scene feels a bit unfair, but it is entirely in keeping with the themes of the book. Sometimes, you don’t get to say goodbye.

That balance of grittiness and the need to refuel and rearm, along with the fight against a seemingly implacable cosmic horror puts me in mind more than a little of Warhammer 40k, even in this space opera style book.

Nod is once again a delight and the view of the Druff homeworld is a piece of glorious world-building, as is the conception of the Plates. This sort of grand space opera imagery is certainly something that Powell excels in.

I was a little disappointed that morew was not made of Lucy, who as a seemingly human child who contains the combined consciousness of two ships, had wonderful potential to be enigmatic and vital but is almost an afterthought in Light of Impossible Stars.

Powell handles some controversial issues well, using them to hammer home the point that the disruption of war affects people in more ways than just loss and dislocation, but in the curtailment of choicers and self realisation.

My main criticism of Light of Impossible Stars is one that is endemic to space opera and that is the way that the finale seems to be over too soon and comes in a somewhat deus ex fashion. This conclusion seems unearned and a tad anticlimactic but is also fitting with the general theme of the series in that war is hell, life is unforgiving and you have to make the best of what is in front of you.

I loved what feels like a slight nod to Iain M. Banks in Trouble Dog’s final chapter which teases so much and could potentially have fixed some of my issues about characters lacking resolution. Maybe that’s another series to come in the future.

All in all, Light of Impossible Stars is a solid read that will appeal to fans of Iain M. Banks and Warhammer 40k and while it didn’t light me up quite as much as it’s predecessors, it’s a solid landing for an ambitious trilogy and well worth your time.

Three stars.

Read Light of Impossible Stars by Gareth L. Powell

 

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EXCERPT: The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie

It’s no secret that our team and followers are massive fans of Joe Abercrombie, and as you can see from our review of A Little Hatred, our anticipation for The Trouble with Peace was palpable. The progression of not just the story, but the world created in The First Law has been an excellently refreshing way to carry the story forward with a cast of new, but familiar-feeling characters taking front of stage (and a few old favourites in the backdrop) driving this story forward.

You can also find another exclusive chapter from The Trouble with Peace over on Forbes, called A Sea of Trouble. Both carry spoilers for A Little Hatred, so trudge warily, traveller.

A Routine
An excerpt from The Trouble with Peace

Joe Abercrombie

“So… you’re happy here, then?”

Liddy laughed. There’d been weeks when Broad had hardly seen her smile. These days, she laughed all the time. “Gunnar, we lived in a cellar.”

“A stinking cellar,” said May, grinning, too. It was hard to imagine with the sunset streaming into their dining room through the three big windows.

“We ate peelings and drank from puddles,” said Liddy, forking another slice of meat onto Broad’s plate.

“We queued to shit in a hole,” said May.

Liddy winced. “Don’t say that.”

“I did it, didn’t I? Why fuss over saying so?”

“It’s the manner of expression I’m objecting to.” Liddy was getting to act like a proper lady and enjoying every moment. “But yes, we did it. Why wouldn’t we be happy now?” She pushed across the gravy jug. Broad had never guessed there was such a thing as a special kind of jug for gravy, let alone imagined he might own one.

He smiled, too. Made himself smile. “’Course. Why wouldn’t we be happy now?” He scooped up a forkful of peas, even managed to get a few in his mouth before they all fell off.

“You’re not much good with a fork,” said May.

Broad nudged his food around the plate with it. Just holding the damn thing made his hand hurt. Felt too delicate for his aching fingers. “You reach an age it’s hard to learn new ways, I reckon.”

“You’re too young to be stuck in the past.”

“I don’t know.” Broad frowned as he prodded at that slice of meat, a little blood seeping. “The past has a way of holding on.”

An awkward pause at that. “Tell us you’re staying home tonight,” said Liddy.

“Wish I could. Got to head over to the diggings.”

“At this time?”

“Won’t take long, I hope.” Broad set down his cutlery and stood. “Got to make sure the work keeps going.”

“Lady Savine can’t do without you, eh?”

May proudly puffed up her chest. “Told me she relies on him more and more.”

“Well, tell her she has to share you with your family.”

Broad snorted as he came around the table. “You bloody tell her.”

Liddy was still smiling as she tipped her face up, lips soft against his. She’d put weight on. They all had, since the lean times in Valbeck. She had that curve to her figure and that glow to her cheek she’d had when they first courted. That same smell she’d had when they first kissed. All that time passed, and he loved her just the same.

“Worked out all right,” she said, fingertips light on his cheek. “Didn’t it?”

“No thanks to me.” He had to talk around a lump in his throat. “I’m sorry. For all the trouble I brought—”

“That’s behind us,” said Liddy, firm. “We work for a fine lady now. No trouble here.”

“No,” said Broad. “No trouble.” And he trudged towards the door.

“Don’t work too hard, Da!” called May. When he looked back, she was smiling at him, and that smile caught at something. Like there was a hook in his chest and whatever she did tugged at it. He smiled back. Raised an awkward hand in farewell. Then he saw the tattoo on the back and jerked it down. Worked it into the cuff of his fine new jacket.

He made sure he shut the door firmly behind him.

Broad strode through a forest of flaking iron columns, across the darkened warehouse floor towards an island of lamplight, footfalls echoing in all that inky emptiness.

Halder stood with his arms folded and his face in shadow. He was one of those men who liked his silence. Bannerman leaned against a pillar near him, that cocky tilt to his hips. He was one of those men who always had too much to say.

Their guest sat in one of three battered old chairs, hands tied to the back, ankles to the legs. Broad stopped in front of him, frowning down. “You’re Gaunt?”

“I’m Gaunt.” Didn’t try to deny it, at least. Sometimes they did. Broad didn’t blame them.

“Funny name for him,” said Bannerman, looking at Gaunt like he was naught but a lump of clay. “’Cause he’s quite sturdy, really. Wouldn’t call him fat. But I wouldn’t call him gaunt.”

“Have some respect, eh?” said Broad as he took his jacket off. “We can do this without being disrespectful.”

“What difference does it make?”

Broad draped the jacket over the back of a chair and stroked the fine cloth flat with the side of his hand. “Makes some to me.”

“We’re not here to make friends.”

“I know why we’re here.” Broad met Bannerman’s eye, and held it till he licked his lips and looked away. Then he shifted the chair around so it faced Gaunt and sat. He pushed his lenses up his nose, then clasped his hands. He found it helped to have a routine. Like when he swept the brewery in Valbeck. Just a job to get done, like any other.

Gaunt watched him all the while. Scared eyes, of course. Sweat on his forehead. Determined, though. Tough man to break, most likely. But anything breaks if you squeeze it hard enough.

“My name’s Broad.” He saw Gaunt looking at the tattoo on the back of his hand. He let it hang there. “Used to be in the army.”

“We all did,” said Bannerman.

“You know who we work for now?”

Gaunt swallowed. “For Kort?”

“No.”

Gaunt swallowed again, harder. “For Savine dan Glokta.”

“That’s right. We hear you’ve been organising, Master Gaunt. We hear you’ve persuaded the workers to down tools.”

Bannerman made a disapproving tut, tut, tut noise with his tongue.

“Way things are in the diggings,” said Gaunt, “the hours they work and the pay they get, they didn’t need much persuading.”

Broad nudged his lenses down to rub at the sore bridge of his nose, then nudged them back up. “Look. You seem a decent man so I’m giving you every chance I can. But Lady Savine wants her canal finished. She’s paid for it. And I can tell you for a fact… it’s a bad idea to get between her and what she’s paid for. A bad idea.”

Gaunt leaned forward. Far as he could tied to the chair. “A lad died the other day. Crushed by a beam. Fourteen years old.” He strained around to glance up at Bannerman. “You know that?”

“I heard,” said Bannerman, and from the way he was looking at his nails, hadn’t cared a shit.

“It’s a damn shame.” Broad snapped his aching fingers to bring Gaunt’s eyes back to him. “The question is, how’s you getting crushed going to help him?”

Gaunt stuck his chin up, still defiant. Broad liked him. They could’ve been on the same side. He supposed they had been, not that long ago. “I can help the others. The likes of you wouldn’t understand.”

“I might surprise you. I was in Valbeck, brother, with the Breakers. Fought the good fight there. Thought I did, anyway. Before that, I was in Styria. Thought I fought the good fight there, too. Been fighting good fights all my life. You know what it’s got me?”

“Nothing?” said Bannerman.

Broad frowned up at him. “You love to spoil the punchline, don’t you?”

“You need some new material.”

“Daresay you’re right. Trouble with the good fight, I find… once the fight starts, the good stops.” Broad began rolling up his sleeves while he thought about what to say. Slowly. Carefully. Helped to have a routine. He told himself this was for May, and for Liddy. Wondered what they’d say if they knew about it and didn’t like the answer. That’s why they couldn’t know. Not ever.

“I’ve killed… I think… maybe fifty men. Maybe more. Prisoners, some of ’em. Just following orders, but… I did it, still. Kept a count at first, then I tried to lose count, but, well…” Broad looked down at the little patch of ground between Gaunt’s boots. “I’ll be honest, I was drunk for a lot of it. Drunk as I could get. Bit of a blur. I remember this one fellow, in the wars. Styrian, I guess, kept gabbling at me, and I hadn’t a clue what he was saying. I threw him off the wall. Wall of Musselia this was so, what, thirty strides high?” He glanced up at Halder. “You were at Musselia, weren’t you?”

Halder nodded. “Closer to twenty.”

“High enough, anyway. He hit this cart.” Broad stuck his hand into his ribs, trying to show where. “And it folded him right in half, sideways. Left him in a shape no living man should ever be. I mean, his feet were pointing backwards. He started making this noise.” Broad slowly shook his head. “I swear, it was the noise hell makes. And he wouldn’t stop. You see some shit out there. Changes the way you look at things.”

“It does,” said Halder.

Gaunt was staring at him. “You think that’s something to boast of?”

“Boast of?” Broad stared back, over the rims of his lenses, so Gaunt was just a sparkly blur in the lamplight. “Fuck, no. I wake up with the sweats. I cry, sometimes. In the quiet times. Don’t mind admitting it.”

“Me, too,” said Halder.

“I’m just… trying to get you to see.” And Broad nudged his lenses back up his nose, back into that little groove. “To see where this is going before we get there and find out… we really didn’t want to get there.” He winced. That’d come out all wrong. Wished he was better with words, but, being honest, words alone rarely got this kind of job done. Malmer had been a good talker. Look where he’d ended up. “What I’m trying to say—”

“Master Broad?”

He turned, surprised. There was a single light burning in the office, built up on columns at the back of the warehouse. A figure stood by the steps leading up to it. A woman’s figure, tall and slight and graceful.

Broad felt an ugly twist of fear in the pit of his stomach. Small women troubled him a lot more than big men these days.

“Just… hold on,” he said as he stood.

“He’s not going anywhere.” And Bannerman patted Gaunt on the side of his face and made him flinch.

“Respect.” Broad strode across the warehouse floor, footsteps echoing. “Not like it costs anything.”

It was Zuri. She looked worried, and that made him worried. She was about as hard to rattle as anyone Broad had ever met.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She nodded up the steps towards the office. “Lady Savine is here.”

“She’s here now?”

“She wants to watch you work.” That sat there for a moment, between them, in the darkness. Doing it was one thing. He could tell himself he had to. Choosing to watch it was another. “Perhaps you could… persuade her not to?”

Broad winced. “If I could persuade people just by talking I wouldn’t have to persuade ’em the other way.”

“My scripture teacher used to say that those who strive and fail are as blessed as those who succeed.”

“That ain’t been my experience.”

“Trying cannot hurt.”

“That ain’t been my experience, either,” muttered Broad, following her up the steps.

From the door, Savine looked her usual, perfectly controlled self. Close up in the lamplight, he could tell something was wrong. There was a sore pinkness around the rims of her nostrils, an eager brightness to her eyes, a strand of hair stray from her wig. Then he spotted the streak of faint stains on her jacket, as shocking as no clothes at all might’ve been on someone else.

“Lady Savine,” he said. “Sure you want to be here for this?”

“Your concern is ever so sweet, but I have a strong stomach.”

“I don’t doubt it. I’m not thinking o’ you.” He dropped his voice. “Truth is, you bring out the worst in me.”

“Your problem, Master Broad, is you confuse your best with your worst. I need work to continue on the canal first thing tomorrow. First thing. I need it open and making me money.” She snarled the last word, teeth bared, her fury setting his heart thumping. She was a head shorter than him. He’d have been shocked if she was half his weight. But she still scared him. Not because of what she might do. Because of what she might get him to do. “Now make it happen, there’s a darling.”

Broad glanced over at Zuri, her black eyes gleaming in the darkness. “We all are fingers on God’s hand,” she murmured, with a sorry shrug.

He looked down at his own hand, knuckles aching as he slowly curled it into a fist. “If you say so.”

Broad strode back across the warehouse floor, footsteps echoing, towards that pool of light. He told himself he was trying to look eager. To act the part. But he’d never been much of an actor. The truth was he couldn’t wait to get there.

Gaunt saw something in Broad’s eye, maybe. He twisted in his chair, like he could twist away from what was coming. But neither of them could. “Now wait a—”

Broad’s tattooed fist thudded into his ribs. The chair rocked back and Bannerman caught it, shoved it forward again. Broad’s other fist sank into Gaunt’s other side and twisted him, eyes bulging. He stayed like that, quivering, face turning purple, for a moment. He got one little wheezing breath in before he puked.

It spattered in his lap, spattered the warehouse floor, and Bannerman stepped back, frowning down at his shiny new boots. “Oh, we got a gusher.”

Took an effort, not to keep punching. Took an effort, for Broad to keep some kind of grip on himself and speak. When he did, it was strange how calm his voice sounded. “Time’s up on the civilised approach. Bring him out.”

Halder came from the darkness, dragging someone with him. A young lad, roped up, gurgling into a gag.

“No,” croaked Gaunt as Halder shoved the lad down and Bannerman started tying him to a chair. “No, no,” a string of drool still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

“A man can take a lot, when he thinks he’s fighting the good fight. I know that.” Broad rubbed gently at his knuckles. “But seeing it done to your child? That’s something else.”

The lad stared around, tears tracking his face. Broad wished he could have a drink. He could almost taste it, on his tongue. A drink made everything easier. Easier at the time, anyway. Harder afterwards. He pushed the thought away.

“Doubt I’ll be boasting ’bout this, either.” Broad checked his sleeves were rolled up right. That seemed important, for some reason. “But when you toss it into all the other shit I done, it hardly even shifts the level.”

He glanced up towards the office. Maybe he’d been hoping Savine would be waving at him to stop. But there was no one there. Just the light, to say she was watching. A man has to be able to stop himself. Broad had never been any good at that. He turned back.

“I’d like to get home.”

He took his lenses off, tucked them into his shirt pocket and the lamplit faces all turned to smudges.

“But we’ve got all night if we need it.”

The lad’s fear, and Gaunt’s horror, and Bannerman’s carelessness, made muddy blurs Broad could hardly tell one from another.

“I need you to imagine… the state you two will be in by then.”

The lad’s chair squealed on the warehouse floor as Broad shifted it to just the spot he wanted it.

“Daresay you’ll both be making that noise soon.”

Tweaked his sleeves one more time. Routine, routine, routine.

“The one hell makes.”

Broad knew how he’d have felt, if he’d been tied helpless in one chair and May in the other. That was why he was pretty sure it’d work.

“There’ll be no strike!” gasped Gaunt. “There’ll be no strike!”

Broad straightened up, blinking. “Oh, that’s good news.” Didn’t feel like good news. Deep down inside it felt like quite the disappointment. It was an effort, to make his fists unclench. An effort, to take the lenses from his shirt pocket, hook them back over his ears. Too delicate for his aching fingers. “Your son’ll stay with us, though, just to make sure you don’t have a change of heart.”

The lad wriggled as Bannerman dragged him back across the warehouse floor into the darkness.

“Respect!” called Broad, carefully rolling his sleeves down.

Important to have a routine.

Our review of The Trouble with Peace

Our reviewer James loved The Trouble with Peace. It hit all the right spots for both Abercrombie fans and fans of grimdark fantasy. 

A masterwork of grimdark fantasy by an author who is one of the finest the genre has to offer.

Check out the review of The Trouble with Peace, here.

Read the book

As befits a fantasy legend like Joe Abercrombie, you can find plenty of options for signed books and first editions of The Trouble with Peace in the US and UK. If you’re a Kindle or Audible reader / listener, us the below Amazon links. Otherwise, scroll further down for more special edition versions of The Trouble with Peace.

US: The Trouble with Peace

Barnes & Noble signed edition
Other retailers

UK: The Trouble with Peace

Goldsboro Limited Edition: 500 Signed & Numbered with Sprayed Edges in UK First Edition, First Printing
Waterstones signed edition
Toppings signed and dedicated (personalised dedications limited to 100 copies)
Amazon

If you’re a fan of Joe Abercrombie and you’re as excited about The Trouble with Peace as we are, check out more Joe Abercrombie on our site. As I said, we’re big fans.

Otherwise, go on, get your order in. The Trouble with Peace is going to go off like a frog in a sock.

The post EXCERPT: The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: From Cold Ashes Risen by Rob J. Hayes

All good trilogies come to an end. It’s something that we are sad to see, yet we can’t turn away from that final entry in a series even if we wanted to. From Cold Ashes Risen is no different. We’ve come a long way in the saga of Eskara Helsene and while we can’t wait to see how it turns out, it’s a bit bittersweet that it will be over soon. And in the case of our narrator, Eska, a little scary too.

“I could feel the fear, and it was delicious.”

In my review of The Lessons Never Learned by Rob J. Hayes, I made a comparison to The Empire Strikes Back, in that as a middle-of-trilogy installment, it was a somewhat uncommon occurrence that it didn’t lag in the middle. In many (if not all) ways, Empire was the best of the (original) Lucas trilogy, and I felt that Lessons could be that in The War Eternal.

I was half right. My original comparison holds, as Lessons did not feel bloated and boring as some middle books do in trilogies. But I can’t honestly say it was the best of the three. I think now that the final book, From Cold Ashes Risen might take that title.

Probably because there were no Ewoks.

Silly comparisons aside though, Hayes has created quite the satisfying trilogy from beginning to end. Starting with Along the Razor’s Edge and continuing through The Lessons Never Learned and finally closing it up with From Cold Ashes Risen, Hayes tells a three part epic where each installment stands on its own equally and builds on the others.

“Belmorose said: There are just two reasons for torturing a person. The first is to acquire vital information that would otherwise be withheld. The second is because you’re a sadistic fuck who likes to inflict pain.”

Eskara Helsene is out of her Pit prison, and she’s survived her disastrous assault on the floating (in place) “dead” city of Do’shan though taken heavy losses. Her surviving friends have grievous wounds and her one true love has died at her hand. It’s all they can do to rest for a time and lick their wounds, while the rage builds within Eska.

“How could she claim to love me as I loved her, and yet force me to be the instrument of her death?”

It is time for Eska to reassess and determine how she is going to not only survive but get her vengeance on those that brought her to this pain. Her friends counsel for peace, but she is having none of it.

“I would wager most tragedies could be avoided by listening to the words of those who preach pacifism. Unfortunately, they tend to preach it at a much lower volume than those who preach war.”

Not only does Eska have revenge in mind, but her targets are quite powerful: The Emperor of Terralan himself, as well as the traitor which caused the downfall of her own nation, The Iron Legion himself, Loran Orran. Broken and defeated as she is, Eska has the tools to bounce back and pursue her dark goals. She has Sources, power promised by a Djinn in return for his freedom, and her darkest secret, the “demon” Ssserakis, the ancient horror linked to her body and mind.

In this trilogy, Hayes has not only given us a lot of grimdark action, twists, and turns, but provided the readers with a study in character growth of a woman as she grows from being a scared young girl to a powerful sorcerer. It’s great insight into one that would be a villain in many stories, as Eska is in her own from time to time, to be honest. But her tale is told from her perspective, and while she clearly states that she is not making excuses for her actions or behavior, she is showing the reasons behind what she’s done. This doesn’t make her heroic and might not make her villainous. What it does make her, is human. As such, this is a satisfying tale for this reader upon its conclusion. I felt that I learned as much about Eska as she did about herself.

“Heroes and villains are for stories. In the world outside of songs and books, we are all just people.”

Read From Cold Ashes Risen by Rob J. Hayes

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REVIEW: Fleet of Knives by Gareth L. Powell

The second novel in the Embers of War series, Fleet of Knives continues in the same vein as its predecessor, where it skirts the edge of military science fiction and full blown space opera.

In the aftermath of the Archipelago War and the climactic events in the Gallery, the Trouble Dog and her crew continue to serve the House of Reclamation and help the stranded and endangered ships of the Generality. Meanwhile, Ona Sudak is awaiting execution for her part in the atrocity which ended the Archipelago war, until the titular Fleet of Knives which emerged at the end of Embers of War says it wants her as it’s human admiral.

Confusingly, the titular Fleet of Knives is more often referred to as the Marble Armada for the rest of the series in what I assume is more of an editorial decision that Fleet of Knives made a better book title.

Meanwhile, Johnny Schultz and his crew of the salvage ship, Lucy’s Ghost are looking to pick over the bones of an ancient alien derelict. The problem is that they get attacked by something in the hypervoid and find themselves stranded on the derelict, pursued by some voracious predators.

As the Trouble Dog races to rescue them, rumours that the Fleet of Knives has decided to save humanity from war by forcibly disarming and removing their ability to fare between stars reaches the crew…

Fleet of Knives mixes up the formula from its predecessor by adding the crew of the Lucy’s Ghost, most notably Johnny Schulz, Riley Addison and Lucy herself. Their coming together in adversity and flight from the unforeseen alien monsters mirrors Sudak’s flight through the Brain in the previous book but with a distinctly more horrific aspect almost reminiscent of Alien.

It also juxtaposes the atmosphere on the Trouble Dog and the personal horror contrasts neatly with the more galactic scale of the other main plot thread.

The familiar characters – Sal Konstanz, Trouble Dog, Preston, Alva & Nod all add a little more depth over the course of Fleet of Knives but possibly the biggest shift comes from Ona Sudak who goes from unwilling protagonist to full blown antagonist at top speed.

Distinct and deep characterisation remains a weakness in Fleet of Knives with the book hinging more on events and setting than the people involved being especially compelling. That said, there’s a lot of little nods to deeper characters and the story barrels along at such a pace that you hardly have breath to wonder what their motivations are.

Once again, the prose is delightful, especially when dealing with the wondrous otherness of the galaxy and the close third person viewpoint in the head of major characters helps to point the camera where it needs to be rather than spending too much time staring out of the window being thoughtful.

I absolutely adore every chapter written from Trouble Dog or Nod’s perspective. They tend to be short, but they’re arguably the most evocative parts of the book.

Fleet of Knives more than lives up to Embers of War and manages to avoid the trap of many second parts of trilogies by being a compelling story in it’s own right and not just a bridge to the final act.

Highly recommended for fans of Iain M. Banks or the Expanse.

Four stars.

Read Fleet of Knives by Gareth L. Powell

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REVIEW: The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

The Living Dead, George A. Romero’s newly released final work, shows why he was a legend in the horror industry. His work defined the genre and influenced the next generation of horror filmmakers, horror writers, and zombified horror lovers. We have stories like Mira Grant’s Newsflesh series, The Girl With All The Gifts by Mike Carey, and World War Z by Max Brooks because of his work. In the new generation of horror writers, zombies’ ideas have changed and grown: do they shuffle, run fast, eat your brains, or come together in a mob. 

But the concept remains the same; it is man vs. the unknown or supernatural. And, zombies are just that, entirely outside of the human condition. Something is born, lives, and then dies. It is usually the natural order of things. Through Romero’s extensive zombie catalog of both screen and novels, I always feel like his primary question is, “But what if things didn’t just die but came back as other? What does that mean for society and humanity at large?” I think that is why zombies as an antagonist are such a successful thing. It goes against everything humans know and understand, and that by itself is terrifying. 

“Now the vulture has eaten the dove, the wolf has eaten the lamb; the lion has devoured the sharp-horned buffalo; man has killed the lion with the arrow, with the sword, with the powder; but the Horla will make man into what we made the horse and the steer: his thing, his servant and his food, by the simple power of his will. Our woe is upon us.” —Guy de Maupassant, The Horla

Sadly, Romero did not live to see his final work finished and published. It was picked up by best selling author Daniel Kraus to pull together from the existing writing and notes and complete the task. Not a small job to be sure with its size and gravitas. With Kraus’s writing skill, The Living Dead turned into an amalgamation of both their voices that complemented each other and melded into a strong narrative. 

The book begins with an outbreak of a sort on 11/23. We do not get the why of things or much of a “before.” We start with the descent into societal chaos and madness where the dead have begun fighting their body bags like a moth battles its chrysalis. It is a terrifying visual. In one of the first scenes, a morgue where two forensic scientists are working on a recently deceased John Doe. The scientists, Luis and Charleen, are startled when the partially flayed body throws itself off the medical examining table and slowly begins dragging its body toward Luis. 

“The dull light that had animated John Doe’s white eyes dimmed. The body sagged to the floor, limp as a steak, except for the head, which was still noosed in computer cables. Bloody drool, the last thing John Doe would ever offer, skimmed down a power cord.”

As if these risings are led by a conductor, hell is breaking loose all across the world, and bodies are rising at once. Screams are heard. Cars are crashing. The dead are rising, with only one hunger, and that is for humans flesh. 

Structure wise, The Living Dead is a series of character vignettes. Each character has what amounts to a short story about their initial experiences with the zombie rising. Some are longer than others, but mostly we get an in-depth look into these character’s reactions. But, I spent a lot of time when reading this mammoth of a book attempting to figure out why all these characters were necessary. Don’t get me wrong; there are many interesting characters we learn a lot about. For instance, we have Greer, an African American high school student living in a trailer park. Ghouls trap her in the trailer and try to eat her. We have Chuck Corso, a vain journalist, stuck in a newsroom trying to get the news out for as long as possible. We learn why he is arrogant and how that vanity played out in his life pre-zombies. He goes through an epiphany at the newsdesk, realizing that narcissism is not as important as information. And, my favorite scenes take place on an aircraft carrier. You could imagine what that looks like—the dead wreaking havoc on a floating city. 

There are more essential viewpoints scattered throughout the book. Some are long and some just a few pages—all designed to paint a grim picture of humanity’s final days. However, one of the quibbles I have with this story is that even though we have multiple viewpoints and over a 15-year timeframe, none of it felt cohesive. Why are we reading about this character? Why is this character’s experience highlighted, and what part do they play in the grand scheme of things? There are obvious similarities to Stephen King’s The Stand. Both are character-heavy end of the world type stories. Both start with character vignettes. But, where The Living Dead goes from the apocalypse, a sharp demarcation line, and then 15 years later, The Stand incorporates each character’s journey in meeting the other ones on a destination to the end of the story. There is a solid middle of that story, and this middle solidified why these characters are essential and what role they play. The Living Dead does not do that, not really, and I found that to be a missed opportunity and would have increased the story’s cohesion. 

That being said, The Living Dead does make some small attempts at showing some of the story’s middles and how the characters got from point A to point Z. This is done in the form of interviews written and kept for posterity. The interviews attempt to fill in the blanks, but it didn’t explain many the whys? Why did everyone end up where they did? Maybe the middle wasn’t necessary for this narrative because it was a lot of darkness and struggle. The authors tried to explain how everything happened, but I never felt like that was very clear, and I am still not sure. I don’t completely understand how the zombie plague occurred.   

Another quibble I have is that this book is overly long. The detail that Kraus and Romero put in is both enjoyable and, at times, wholly unnecessary. Again, we get to the question of why. I have thoughts on why this may have happened. A lot of this novel is written from notes from Romero. Maybe, Kraus wanted to use EVERYTHING that Romero had written. I am not saying that the pacing was off or anything because of its length. The Living Dead kept up breakneck pacing through much of the book. But it was a lot of breakneck pacing, and after the first 500 pages or so, it got a bit exhausting. 

“.. keep fighting, keep surviving until the end.”

Even with both of the quibbles, it was still an exciting and well-written zombie book. It is a perfect farewell from the horror master, George Romero, and undoubtedly will become part of the zombie enthusiast’s lexicon. It is right up there with other zombie titles. Kraus did a solid job distilling Romero’s ideas and breaking them into usable parts, even if those parts were numerous and vast. It has the same flair as many of Romero’s movies, but we have a deeper understanding of the characters with its character-focused writing. More then we could ever have from a two-hour film. All in all, The Living Dead is a celebration of Romero and his influence on modern horror, and we horror enthusiasts are better for having this book in the world. 

Thank you for everything, George. We will miss you. 

Read The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus

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REVIEW: The Boundless by Peter Newman

I received a review copy of The Boundless in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Peter Newman and Harper Voyager.

The Ruthless was my favourite fantasy read of 2019 and that lead to The Boundless being one of my most anticipated releases of 2020. When The Boundless was posted through my letterbox, all the other novels that I have to review ceased to exist temporarily until I had finished The Deathless trilogy. In fact, I re-read both The Deathless and The Ruthless before tackling The Boundless so that the characters, drama, and excitement were totally fresh in my mind. Through doing this I was reminded of some of the exceptional moments that concluded The Ruthless and the hints presented there of what could follow in the series finale. I was extremely excited to finally read The Boundless and Newman did not disappoint at all.

In The Boundless, we still follow the point of view perspectives of Sa-at, Satyendra, Vasinidra, Lady Pari, and Chandni. The events presented here happen straight after the conclusion of The Ruthless. Sa-at is now in Lord Rochant’s floating castle as is the dark doppelganger Satyendra. Lady Pari plans to venture to the chasm beneath the same castle to help her brother Arkav find the missing part of himself. Vasinidra hopes to rid the Wilds of the bane that is the Scuttling Corpseman and, elsewhere in the Wilds, exiled Chandni leaves her fate to the creatures and demons that lurk there.

I don’t want to talk too much about the events of this novel but there are many standout moments, stunning set-pieces, unlikely alliances, long-awaited meetings and reunions, great showdowns and battles, and lots of darkness, death, the unpredictable and the macabre. The Boundless is an extremely satisfying and fitting conclusion to a top-quality series that deserves many more readers. I enjoyed following every point of view perspective and found the characters extremely memorable and engaging. The Wilds is a great character in itself, and contains some wonderful entities like Murderkind, the Dogkin, Whispercages, and the moving trees.

Newman fits a lot of incredible moments into these 437 pages. The Boundless is fast-paced, action-packed and thrilling. In fact, a few scenes were so intense that they seemed to race by at supernatural, Deathless-like speed. A couple of moments seemed to rush by a bit too fast but this is just my personal opinion and it’s my only minor criticism.

I really didn’t want the novel to end, and actually slowed my reading speed as the conclusion approached as I really wanted to savour these moments and this may be the only time these characters grace the pages of fantasy books. I have no idea if Newman plans to return to this well-crafted and darkly endearing world of the Wilds, Deathless, floating castles and the Godroads; but he’ll have a reader waiting in me if he ever chooses to.

I’d give the Deathless series as a whole a 9/10 rating and guess it’s now about time that I try out Newman’s The Vagrant books. To finish up, I can confirm that I had a fantastic reading experience with this deliciously dark, engaging and unique fantasy series and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Read The Boundless by Peter Newman

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REVIEW: Angel Mage by Garth Nix

Angel Mage by Garth Nix is a competent foray into the grimdark subgenre meant for young adult (YA) readers.

Taking place in a setting derivative of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, the narrative follows the adventures of four young strangers new to the city of Lutace, bound by a mysterious connection they struggle to understand. Meanwhile, the powerful mage Liliath has risen from more than a century of slumber to complete her enigmatic objective at any cost, even if it be the lives of her own people. Unknown to the four protagonists, Liliath has designs to use them to her own ends, and they must unravel the secret of their connection while being thrust into the upper echelons of the politics of their realm during a time of world-changing events.

Nix does an admirable job of crafting a credible fantasy world with an innovative magic system. The characters are relatable, the action sequences are sufficiently exciting, and the pacing is generally well-executed, keeping things moving along for the reader while still dwelling in the details long enough to really bring the setting to life. The supporting cast was also particularly strong, with even minor characters standing out as memorable.

The prose should prove sufficiently verbose and challenging for the young adult reader, although the narration perspective did, at times, seem peculiar. Specifically, Nix employs a particular mix of third-person omniscient and third-person limited perspectives. The former works quite well when multiple protagonists share a scene, however, the perspective seems to shift to the latter in most other situations, creating some minor confusion; I can recall at least one instance wherein the limited perspective wandered into the omniscient, mid-scene, and I was surprised to be reading the thoughts of a non-point-of-view character. Nevertheless, I applaud the ambitious choice, and other than the aforementioned specific instance, I found it to be overall beneficial to the structure of the story.

While Angel Mage does many things well, it -arguably- fails to do anything great, with the exception of the world-building, which as mentioned, was very well crafted. However, the attention to detail on the realization of the setting was, perhaps, at the expense of using a greater portion of the narrative to develop the characters or deepen the plot. While the four protagonists were all quite likable, I would have enjoyed a stronger focus on their characterization and wish they had displayed more dynamism over the course of their journeys. The plot was interesting and the stakes sufficiently high, but never had me so invested as to call it a ‘page-turner’, though this is, of course, a matter purely of subjectivity.

While, overall, I really did enjoy this novel, I was left with a lingering thought: who is this for? Genre neophytes will be turned off by the density of the world-building, while initiated readers would probably be better served by simply reading adult-oriented fantasy, as many of us did as teenagers. However, for the specific demographic of young, hardcore-fantasy fans seeking a more adult tale without risking exposure to overtly graphic content, Angel Mage may be a near-perfect choice.

Read Angel Mage by Garth Nix

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REVIEW: Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell

Space opera is not always grimdark, indeed it often verges on the utopian but as it’s title suggests, Embers of War deals with the messy aftermath of conflict and it’s universe has lots of moral greyness to spare. Indeed, for much of the book it feels like a military science fiction novel before it broadens into space opera.

Embers of War starts with the human portion of the galaxy recovering from the aftermath of a bitter civil war that reminds me a lot of the background conflict to Firefly/Serenity with an independent minded faction (the Outward) losing to the central powers.

That war ended in an atrocity and resulted in combatants of both sides setting down their arms. This includes our main characters, Captain Sal Konstanz and her ship, the decommissioned and repentant sentient warship, Trouble Dog, who now work for the House of Reclamation – who are sort of an ad hoc International Rescue in this universe.

Elsewhere in the Embers of War universe, a cruise liner is attacked while viewing a system scale archaeological curiosity and a jaded spy is given a strange new posting.

Embers of War is bursting with interesting characters and settings. Sal Konstanz nurtures self doubt and loss by getting drunk in the hold of the ship. Her mismatched crew of veteran soldier Alva Clay and a box fresh medic rub up against each other in all the wrong ways while the most interesting characters are possibly the ship itself and the alien Druff engineer, Nod.

Elsewhere, Ona Sudak and Ashton Childe are shown to be deeply grey characters, both with secrets that remain untold and motivations that are both complex and opaque.

One of Powell’s great strengths is the description of the outlandish, with the realisation of the many many limbed, faces-on-the-hands Druff and the characters of the sentient spaceships standing. Otherwise, the vivid portrayal of such mind boggling things as the hypervoid and the Gallery which are both key to Embers of War’s plot really help to put you in a place which is almost past description.

The action is portrayed via a close third person view of specific PoV characters for each chapter and while some of the voices are samey, the distinct perspective given really helps in portraying different views of similar events. It is a device that takes a little tuning into and Embers of War is a book that takes a good few chapters to hit its stride.

Much of the story takes place with most of the characters not entirely sure why events are unfolding and there is a sense of the story being railroaded rather than each character having full agency to make their own decisions. This makes sense in some cases more than others – (especially for Sudak who is pursued deeper into an ancient alien megastructure) but it does lead to an excellent confrontation at the end which is resolved in a manner which is both a wee bit anticlimactic (as these things tend to be) and completely changes the scale of the story for the rest of the series.

The conclusion involves a number of tough moral choices and the Trouble Dog being a complete badass, despite being largely demilitarised. I’ve not liked a ship this much since Falling Outside The Normal Moral Constraints in Iain M. Banks Surface Detail.

All in all, Embers of War is a rip roaring space opera that cherry picks some of the most fun elements from the likes of Firefly and Iain M. Banks. While it doesn’t quite hit the heights of Banks or Ann Leckie, it’s very readable and you end up caring about the characters, feeling their moral quandaries and being invested in what happens to them.

Four Stars

Read Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell

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